Gentle Fasting versus Vigorous Fasting

This weekend I went to We Care Spa for a three-day fast. For those of you who are not familiar with We Care, it is a simple retreat center in Palm Springs where you go and fast for a weekend or longer (one woman was there for three weeks).

It is vigorous fasting, and by this I mean full-force. They recommend colonics every day and you drink fiber that expands ten times in your belly to “cleanse” your colon. You take lots of pills – enzymes, probiotics, fiber regulators, green pills, etc. – and fix yourself drinks throughout the day such as the fiber drink I mentioned and other not so tasty drinks. Midday you do get a green/carrot juice which is yummy and at night they serve a pureed single vegetable soup that feels like a feast when you haven’t eaten all day – good times:)

The grounds are breathtaking. The property is in a remote area with spectacular views of the mountains. The air is clear and if you love the desert like I do, it is extremely nourishing to be in that environment. They have great classes – my favorites were yoga and pilates by a beautiful, dreadlock sporting girl named Patricia who personifies the saying, “Be the peace you wish to see in the world.”

I do have to say that the majority of the people who go there are richer than God, which is a bit sureal in a Chanel flipflop sort of way, but they’re all are into wellness and friendly for the most part.

There was only one problem with the whole experience (other than the giant “date beetle” who liked to hang out on my toilet paper roll. Oh yeah, and the fact that you have to put your toilet paper in the trash to avoid clogging the septic tank), I don’t do colonics. Not that I have anything against them or the people who choose to go that utterly invasive route, it’s just that they are a bit too extreme for me. So here I was taking all these pills and all this fiber and not doing colonics to help flush the abundant detox remedies out of my system. My conclusion: If you want a vigorous fast, you need to do the whole program.

I’m more interested in gentle fasts. I LOVE the lemonade fast and will probably only do that one for the rest of my life. You just sip the lemon/maple syrup mixture throughout the day and drink a little fasting tea (read: herbal laxative) at night to assist the removal of toxins while your not ingesting solid food, which is what usually moves things along. I’m reinvigorated about the weekend fasting retreats I host, and am entirely clear that the lemonade approach is a wonderful way to cleanse for those of us who are more moderate minded.

Meanwhile, I feel ever so thankful for We Care Spa and the lovely staff there who turned me on to the idea of fasting retreats in the first place. And for those who are more vigorously inclined, I would definitely check them out for a weekend, or longer if your the Chanel flipflop wearing kind.